I was born in 1930 and in the 82 years since then, I cannot remember a time when the world was not “coming apart.” In my time alone there has been the Depression of the 1930s, World War II, the Korean War and Cuba Crisis, the threat of advancing Communism, the fear of nuclear holocaust, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, the ecological meltdown of our planet, the current economic and ethical crisis, the growing divisiveness and political paralysis in our nation, etc.

On the personal and familial level probably all of us have known our share of personal disappointment, failure and even tragedy. How can Christians survive and prevail in such times?

Beginning this week, we will spend five Sundays with a New Testament book that can help us with that question, even though to most, the Epistle to the Hebrews may at first seem an archaic and irrelevant piece of scripture. But the more we are able to learn about this epistle, the more we are likely to understand and appreciate it.

That doesn’t mean it is likely to become one of your favorite books of the Bible. The reason is, it was written for a time, situation and audience much different from our own. But, as I hope you will find, that doesn’t mean it cannot speak to us even in our very different times and situations.

We probably know less about the circumstances of this epistle than any other book of the New Testament. Although there has been varied speculation, we do not know who wrote it or to which churches it was sent.

Although in the third and fourth centuries A.D. Paul’s name was often added to the title, it is almost certainly not Paul who wrote it. From the letter itself it appears the writer was a Christian Jew who grew up not in Palestine, but somewhere in the Greek-speaking world.

It is also obvious the writer was familiar with and strongly influenced by the Greek philosophy of Platonism – the philosophy of Plato that emphasized reality is a two-story affair, the eternal and the temporal, with the eternal being the true reality. Platonism also stressed the contrasts of life, the heavenly and the eternal, reality and “the shadows,” the one and the many, etc. Some of these contrasts are evident in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

It is believed the churches to which this letter was directed were mature Christian congregations that began with Jewish converts to Christ. Apparently, these congregations had suffered some persecution and a generation of faithful leaders had passed on. Now, under attack, the churches were in danger of losing their faith.

So this letter’s purpose is to buttress that faith. Their world was being shaken (Hebrews 12:26), but the writer wants these Christians to realize that it is God, not some other force, doing the shaking and they must recognize that history is, in reality, His story.

No matter how different our situation today, Hebrews can help us to the same realizations. The shaking that dominates our world does not signify a world torn loose from the Creator, but one in which the Creator is still the source and the destiny of it.

Dwight Stevenson says: “Having found the unshaken rock, (we) will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult” (Psalms 46:2,30).

Yes, the world is always being shaken, but the follower of Christ is secure if he or she does not waver. For the people of the early church, this was a new way to see the world – and it is a new way that we today can find, as well.

As I have already pointed out, the concerns in Hebrews do not resonate with most of us because the flavors and settings of Christianity today are so different from what they were when it was written. But that should help us understand there is no one “right way” for various and diverse people to live out their dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In terms of the Platonic Greek philosophical background of the Hebrews writer, the Gospel is eternal, but the ways of living out the Gospel are temporal, always changing as life and society change.

Tennyson has written: “God fulfills himself in many ways,” and it is not our job to tell God He has to do it with others as he has done it with us.

“There are as many ways to climbing to the stars as there are people to climb,” says George Russell. Too often the denominations and churches have been like the little boy who charged his friends admission to come into his backyard and see the eclipse! The view of God and what He is doing in this world can be equally and truly seen from more than a few backyards.

One more pertinent admonition from this ancient epistle: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works …” (10:23,24).

Some congregations and denominations are okay with 50 percent of that admonition: They know how and do a thorough job of stirring up one another. But often the stirring up is not fruitful in acts of love and good works. The emphasis some 18 centuries after this letter was written is still not on division, enmity and strife, but on “love and good works.”

Question: Does your life as a Christian stir up others to love and good works?

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.